Hot Topics:

Fitchburg man $22,000 richer

By Jack Minch, jminch@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
11/04/2013 07:11:24 AM EST

Cory Gemborys, 28, of Fitchburg, stands by a new 2014 Ford Mustang that he won from Shaw's Supermarkets' Best Roadtrip Ever! 2013 Sweepstakes, Saturday in Leominster. Gemborys will actually take the cash equivalent of $22,000 to help with a down payment on a house. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BRETT CRAWFORD

LEOMINSTER -- Cory Gemborys had to weigh the value of a new, shiny red Ford Mustang with a standard transmission against a $22,200 down payment on a new house.

It wasn't even close.

He took the down payment.

Gemborys, of Fitchburg, was the winner of Shaw's Supermarkets' Best Roadtrip Ever! 2013 Sweepstakes online contest with the prize of a 2014 Ford Mustang.

The West Bridgewater-based supermarket chain parked the car in front of its store at Watertower Plaza but gave Gemborys the option of its $22,200 cash value, which he took Saturday morning.

"That's a down payment on a house," Gemborys said. "That made a big difference."

It was a simple contest, said Dan Isidoro, the digital-marketing coordinator for the supermarket.

Cory Gemborys, 28, of Fitchburg, right, is handed a check of $22,000 from Dan Isidoro, digital-marketing coordinator for Shaw's Supermarkets, as Leominster Shaw's Director Joe Medeiros, and Gemborys' girlfriend, Casandra Heilig, 27, of Fitchburg stand by. Gemborys chose the cash equivalent for a down payment on a house over the new 2014 Ford Mustang that he won from Shaw's Supermarkets' Best Roadtrip Ever! 2013 Sweepstakes, Saturday in Leominster. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BRETT CRAWFORD

In four sentences, contestants had to write a creative story online about a fictional road trip.

The supermarket's website also had what Gemborys called a product generator and each sentence had to include a reference to a product.

It was about 3 a.m. when Gemborys found the contest, and he wasn't sure the story he wrote was even cogent.

There were more than 5,000 entries in the contest and contestants were told to share their stories on Facebook and ask others to "Like" them.

Advertisement

Gemborys used Facebook and Twitter soliciting support for his story but relied on his girlfriend, Casandra cq Heilig, of Fitchburg, to drum up support from co-workers at Chili's Grill & Bar on Orchard Hill Park Drive, since most of his co-workers at Inner-Tite in Holden don't use social media.

"I said do whatever you have to do, and it paid off," Gemborys said. "Look at that red Mustang."

Heilig said she approached all her co-workers, and if they were unsure how to vote she actually took their phones and showed them how.

Gemborys' story eventually got about 1,200 votes and was entered in a random drawing of five finalists, Isidoro said.

"It's all about how social media played a part in spreading the word on these promotions and how it impacts people's lives," Isidoro said.

It's not the first contest Gemborys has won this year.

He entered a separate contest and won a trip to Los Angeles earlier this year in which Boyz II Men serenaded Heilig for an online commercial, Gemborys said.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sentinel and Enterprise. So keep it civil.

OUARZAZATE, Morocco (AP) — The people are restive, the priesthood is scheming and a fanatic band of insurgents known as the zealots are plotting assassinations — and now to make matters worse, the body of a condemned cult-leader known as Jesus has disappeared from the tomb, apparently following some ancient prophecy. Full Story